Finally, the Foose Stallion Mustang has a blower. It makes sense. Styling is a major selling point with anything from Chip Foose, the designer from the popular TV show Overhaulin'. With a name like Stallion, along with stiff competition in the high-performance Mustang specialty market from Saleen, Roush, Steeda, and Shelby, horsepower is a huge selling point.
That's why we hustled to Unique Performance for a look. At press time, Gary Anderson's team was still in the deliberation about which supercharger would go on the ultimate Stallion.
There are now three levels of Foose Mustangs. The base Stallion is pretty much a "cosmetic exercise" with a seven-piece body kit and graphics, and it comes with the factory GT's 300hp, 4.6L, Three-Valve V-8. The next level has the same engine with Ford Racing's cold-air induction, pumping up the power by approximately 35 ponies-enough to give the Foose what Gary calls "more performance personality." The 300 and 335hp engines have been optional in the Foose since the Stallion was created in 2006.
For '07, the blower pushes horsepower to 445. That's a substantial jump and enough to move the Stallion where it needs to be to compete with the big boys.
Paul Cavins, General Manager of Unique Performance's Western Region sales, is a member of Gary's team and speaks the musclecar lingo. "Back in the day-the mid '90s-when Ford came out with the Cobra Mustang, it had 305-310 hp," he says. "Everybody said, 'Oh, those things are fast!' Now you say '300 hp' and they just laugh. I think in order to remain competitive, we have to offer something north of 400 hp."
We were curious as to what type of supercharger Unique would choose for the Stallion: centrifugal or Roots-style. The ever-popular centrifugal superchargers, like those from Vortech, Paxton, ATI, and Powerdyne, compress the air inside the blower and force it down the intake. They're easy to spot because they mount on the front of the engine.
When we opened the hood on the Vista Blue prototype Foose Stallion, we saw the other type of supercharger, which is technically external compression. Called Roots- or Eaton-style, these blowers mount on top of the engine. The '03 Cobra, and more recently the new Ford GT super car, brought a lot of attention to this second style. Roush, Kenne Bell, Eaton, and Whipple are popular manufacturers.